


nothin's gonna take you from my side

by askmeaboutmyoctopustheory



Series: Winterhawk Bingo [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Animal soulmarks, Aromantic Asexual Natasha Romanov, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Clint Barton's Farm, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Queer Disaster Clint Barton, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-08-12 03:37:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20146312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/askmeaboutmyoctopustheory/pseuds/askmeaboutmyoctopustheory
Summary: Soulmates AU with handwavey ideas about soulmarks----Clint looked down and yelped a bit in shock. The pulsing, bloody gash on his side was of little concern to him. What had completely taken him off guard was the wolf that was curled up on his left pectoral muscle, sleeping right where his heart would be. He touched it lightly, scanning his torso for his own soul mark. The hawk was perched on the opposite collarbone facing the wolf, as if skeptical of the newcomer.“Huh.” Clint squinted at the wolf, feeling the pain meds that Nat had administered at some point kicking in. “Nice of you to join the party, little bud. "





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> helloooooo here's this for the WH bingo square "soulmates"
> 
> i'm a sucker for a soulmate AU and well.....
> 
> there are parts of this that def draw off of other fics i've read as well as every soulmate au ever but if you'd like credit for something that seems similar, let me know!
> 
> twit @_AMAMOT

Bucky’s soulmark came to life like everyone else’s when he went through puberty. The white wolf that had been sitting on his wrist his whole life would start frisking around his arm, running circles around his neck, and just generally scampering around his body like most newly-aged soulmarks. 

When he went to war, the wolf would spend his time on Bucky’s legs, as if cowering from the brutality he was facing. Bucky never saw another’s mark on him, meaning his soulmate hadn’t been born yet or he didn’t have one. Which was probably for the best since soldiers didn’t have the longest lifespan. And then he fell, the white wolf howling on his ankle with him. 

\---

Clint loved his soulmark at first, when the hawk that had perched on his collarbone came to life and swooped around his back after he came of age. The longer he went on without another’s mark on him, the more he got used to extended glances of pity. Clint started to hate the thing. He couldn’t wear long sleeves with his uniform, so people would see the lonely hawk on his arm. It was pretty unlucky to be one of the bastards without a soulmate. Natasha was one of the lucky ones, with the spider on her wrist never once moving. They moved together like shadows, killing and completing missions. Patching each other up in safehouses around the world and keeping the other safe.

“Don’t die on me Barton” Natasha griped at him as they stumbled into a tiny cabin in the countryside.

“”S just a bullet graze.” Clint said thickly, feeling the throbbing on his side. “It’s gonna take a lot more to kill me.”

“I know.” Natasha looked at him fondly before unzipping his vest to get to the wound. “You’re still an idiot.”   
  
“Your idiot though” Clint grinned as he hiked his shirt to let her stitch him up. 

Yeah-” Natasha’s face blanched, her eyes wide. “ _ Yastreb _ . You- Look.”

Clint looked down and yelped a bit in shock. The pulsing, bloody gash on his side was of little concern to him. What had completely taken him off guard was the wolf that was curled up on his left pectoral muscle, sleeping right where his heart would be. He touched it lightly, scanning his torso for his own soul mark. The hawk was perched on the opposite collarbone facing the wolf, as if skeptical of the newcomer. 

“Huh.” Clint squinted at the wolf, feeling the pain meds that Nat had administered at some point kicking in. “Nice of you to join the party, little bud. Nat, did you send for Coulson?”   
  
“Yeah. You aren’t a bit worried about-” She gestured to the sleeping wolf and the hawk now perched directly above it like he was keeping watch.

“I’ll worry about it when I’m not bleeding out.”   
  
“Please. Have more faith in my stitches than that.”

\----

If Natasha hadn’t been there to see it too, Clint would’ve thought seeing the wolf was a hallucination from blood loss and morphine. After they had been extracted from the mission and debriefed, Clint was taken to medical and examined once again. The wolf was nowhere to be found, nor was it anywhere else he could see when he showered off in the communal locker room. 

Any thoughts of his soulmark were pushed out of his head, since SHIELD was murmuring about sightings of the Winter Soldier. Apparently he had been in the same area that Nat and Clint had just left, assigned a similar mission. Clint was convinced the guy was a ghost story, something made up by all other spy agencies when they couldn’t agree on who took the shot. Natasha was oddly quiet and withdrawn as they discussed it at lunch one day. Clint hadn’t been cleared for missions yet, so they were stuck doing paperwork.

“Nat? What’s wrong?”   
  
“The Winter Soldier. I think he trained us in the Red Room.”   
  
“Yeah, you’ve said that. But isn’t that just the name they gave all of their ‘projects’ in that class or whatever?” Clint chewed on his apple. “Doesn’t mean the same one is who everyone’s talkin about.”

“Yeah.” she said, a fake reassurance on her face. “You’re right.”   
  
Clint let the topic rest. 

\----

“President of the Czech Republic was just assassinated, we’re wheels up in 20 for protec- oh shit.” Natasha strolled into Clint’s room and saw him staring at his bare torso. “It’s… It’s back.”   
  
The wolf that they had seen on Clint’s chest in that safehouse outside Budapest years ago had been a topic of many heated discussions since. Clint had written it off as a trick of the light, a combination of exhaustion that they somehow had both seen it. But the wolf was back, in the same spot curled over his heart. After that mission in Budapest, Clint had researched soulmarks extensively and knew now that the wolf over his heart was seeking comfort. He placed his hand over his heart, hoping to convey the comfort that his soulmate so clearly needed.

“Well. Let’s go then.” He said, putting on his gear and walking past Natasha. “File on the jet?”

“Yeah. Clint are you ok? Has it ever shown up again?”   
  
“Not that I’ve seen.” He said quietly as he settled into the pilots seat. When they were at cruising altitude, he set it to autopilot and walked to read the file. Something caught his eye. “Suspect: the Winter Soldier? Nat really?”

“We’re just getting the rest of the political cabinet off the grid, should be a cakewalk.”   
  
“There is no ‘off the grid’ for the Winter Soldier!?” Clint threw the file back onto the table. “Tell me straight up, is this a suicide mission?”   
  
“You have so little faith in me Hawkeye.” Natasha’s eyes were amused. “There’s little reason to believe that anyone else is targeted. In and out. We’ll be back at SHIELD for a nightcap.”

The mission went off without a hitch, smoothly transporting the members of the Czech cabinet to a safe location and installing approved protection details. They got back to SHIELD exhausted and Clint barely realized that the wolf was fading on his chest, pacing back and forth like it didn’t want to go.

\----

Clint started to hate the damn wolf like he hated his own soulmark. The wolf came back when he was on the helicarrier after Loki, right as he was going to fight  _ fucking aliens _ . It moved that time, prowling over his body with the hawk as if they were moving in tandem. Right as the wolf was getting stronger, like Clint was getting closer to meeting his soulmate, it disappeared again. 

It came back when he was on a surveillance mission a few years later in Nowhere, Indiana. The wolf was in his usual space on his chest, the hawk ignoring him. Clint wondered if his hawk showed up on his soulmate’s body, perching on their collarbones or wrists like his own. 

The wolf stayed. He stayed when Natasha sent a coded message about Fury being shot, and that SHIELD had gone up in flames. The wolf retreated to Clint’s ankle with his tail between his legs like he was wounded when Steve sent him word that the Winter Soldier was his old war buddy Bucky Barnes. Like Clint needed reminded who Bucky Barnes was. Every man on the kinsey scale knew who Barnes was. He just went about his business laying low at his farm while SHIELD/HYDRA figured their shit out.

“Barton” He answered his phone that was getting a call from an unknown number.

“Is that a way to talk to your favorite assassin?” Natasha’s voice teased him.

“You’re alive.” He sighed in relief.

“As my brilliant partner once said, it’ll take a lot more to kill me.” She laughed a bit before returning to her mission voice “You at safehouse #24?” 

“Yep, you coming for a visit?” Clint looked around at the nest he had made for himself of pizza boxes and beer cans.

“Yep. I’ll be there tonight. Might expect more company in a bit.”   
  
“Roger that.”   
  
He had managed to get the trash taken out and swept up the crumbs on the floor when she appeared silently in his living room. 

  
“You know you can use the door like a normal person right?” Clint said, pulling her in for a hug anyway. “You doin alright?”   
  
“Blew all my covers. Lost my job. But all in all not bad.” She smiled up at him and swept her eyes over him for injuries, pausing when she saw the wolf curled up on his wrist. “He’s-”   
  
“Yeah he’s been around for a while. Don’t expect him to stay though.” Clint shrugged.

Natasha took a deep breath. “You might want to sit down for this.” 

Clint grabbed a few beers and threw a TV dinner in the oven before settling down next to her on the sofa. “What’s wrong ‘Tasha?”

“Your mark-well. Ok. You remember Budapest? How the Winter Soldier was there at the same time we were? And your mark showed up?”   
  
“Yeah…?”   
  
“Remember I said the Winter Soldier trained me in the Red Room?” Natasha met his eyes. “There’s a part I left out. I remembered it then, but didn’t bring it up because well…”   
  
“What is it Tash?”   
  
“The Winter Soldier’s soulmark is a white wolf”

Natasha blurted the words out and then refused to meet his gaze. She got up and took the dinner out of the oven and busied herself in the kitchen. Clint put his hand on her shaking wrist when she was trying to cut the lasagna.

“Nat… Why are you telling me this?”   
  
“Steve… He’s coming here with-with.”   
  
“Bucky.”

\----

Clint had imagined meeting his soulmate ever since the damn thing on his shoulder started moving. The whole thing was pretty anticlimactic, with Cap pulling up in a volkswagen and two guys tumbling out of the backseat like the clowns in the circus. One of them was a darker skinned guy who took Cap’s hand. Huh. Rogers must’ve found his soulmate.

“Barton, thanks for the safehouse. This is Sam Wilson, or The Falcon. Also uh. My soulmate.”   
  
“Pleasure.” Sam shook Clint’s hand

“Likewise. Always need more bird-themed superheroes.” 

Clint was mostly distracted by who had to be Bucky Barnes lurking back by the car. He was wearing about 10 layers and a glove over his left hand. If Clint touched him, their marks would activate, which might be more than the guy wanted to deal with right now. If Natasha was right about his soulmark. He just nodded at the sulking figure and guided the group back into the house. 

Thank goodness for small miracles, the wolf somewhere on Clint’s body was making itself scarce. The hawk, however, was being a nosey fucker. Clint kept having to slap himself on the arm to cover the tattoo, which of course just kept moving. It was the middle of summer and he wasn’t a metal-armed assassin, so he wasn’t going to wear long sleeves.

“So what’s the plan?” Clint asked as they all sat down at his dinner table with a hodgepodge of leftovers between them.

Steve looked at Natasha and then set his fork down, looking conflicted. “Well…” Clint looked between Steve and Nat, and Sam was suddenly very busy with his soup. “We need Bucky to stay here for a while. While we work on clearing his name.”   
  
Clint looked at them again and for the first time, really looking over at Barnes. He hadn’t really spoken since arriving. “And have you asked Bucky what he thinks of this?”   
  
Steve and Natasha just looked at him, seemingly shocked while Bucky looked up at him with wide eyes.   
  
“What?” Bucky frowned. 

“What do you want to do? Do you want to stay here?” Clint asked him, nodding in encouragement.

“I….” Bucky looked at Steve. “I don’t really have much of a choice.” Steve just nodded solemnly.   
  
“You  _ always _ have a choice.” Clint stood up suddenly, startling those around him. “Cap, I don’t care if you lot stay here. I got the space and nobody’s gonna come lookin for you. But nobody’s here unless it’s their choice.”

He stormed into the kitchen and cleaned off his dish before turning to go upstairs. He was surprised to see Bucky there, holding his own dish with both hands and a startled look on his face.

“Thanks.” Bucky said softly.   
  
“It’s no problem.” Clint said a bit awkwardly. “I know how it feels havin’ the strings pulled for you.”

Bucky just nodded. “I’m gonna stay.”   
  
“Well. Glad to have ya.”   
  
Clint flopped onto his bed with a groan when he reached his room. He stripped off his shirt to see the wolf standing with his tail wagging on his stomach. At least the wolf was happy, even if Clint had no idea how to make Bucky feel happy the same way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short chapter but uhhhhhh
> 
> *looks at writing on hand*  
*spins wheel*
> 
> i have no excuse

The midwestern summer was growing into its full heat and Clint couldn’t keep hiding his soulmarks behind long sleeves anymore. Bucky was like a stray animal, showing up to get fed and sometimes sitting around with Clint in the evening but not really talking or doing much else of anything. He disappeared into the acreage of the farm most days, no doubt perching and watching for threats. Clint knew that Bucky likely didn’t sleep well at night, if the amount of coffee they were going through and the dark circles under Bucky’s eyes were any indication. Speaking of which, Clint frowned at the empty tin of coffee that he had scraped the bottom of trying to make his mid-afternoon brew. Between the leftovers that they had ate last night and the lack of coffee, he was reminded that he needed to make a grocery run. Normally Clint would just go, but Bucky had had a rare urge to cook something specific, so he wanted to let the other man know he was going into town.

“LAURA?” Clint sighed as he called for the AI that Tony had installed when Clint filed this safehouse. “Where’s Bucky?”

“Sergeant Barnes is currently in the peach grove, sitting in the third tree from the left.”

Clint locked up the farmhouse and walked over to the peach grove, making noise with his steps to not sneak up on Bucky. He saw the other sniper swinging down from the tree as he approached and drawing up to his full height that still only brought him to Clint’s nose.

“You need somethin?” Bucky asked warily. Clint rarely bothered him unless he needed help or to tell a message from Nat.   
  
“I’m going into town.” Clint told him in what he hoped was a neutral voice. “You mentioned wanting to try that thing you saw on  _ Chopped _ ?”

“Oh right. Give me a sec and I’ll come with.”

A few moments later they were plugging down the driveway in Clint’s beat up pickup truck in a companionable silence. Clint wasn’t bothered that Bucky didn’t talk much, it made it less awkward when he forgot his aids or just needed to shut the world out for a bit. Bucky had started listening to all the best music from the years he had missed, with Clint giving his occasional input or critiques. Sometimes Bucky would remember a song that he heard during an extended or undercover mission and jog a new memory loose.

“I know this one.” Bucky frowned smally when ‘All the Small Things’ came through the old iPod of Clint’s that he had dug up for listening. 

“Glad to see HYDRA thawed you out for the important shit.”

“Y2K was a big thing.” Bucky said offhandedly. “But I remember this from a lot later than that. I was on mission near Budapest.”   
  
Clint was proud of himself for not crashing the car, but there was no way Bucky missed the veer and overcorrect and subsequent swearing. 

“You alright?” Bucky looked concerned.

“Yeah. What makes you remember that mission?” Clint used his best spy voice, careful not to give anything away. He didn’t miss Bucky subtly brush his metal hand across his own collarbone where the hawk usually perched on Clint’s own body. 

“My mark.” Bucky said softly. “It was a long mission, long enough for my soulmark to apparently activate. They didn’t usually keep me out of the fridge long enough for it to come to life.”

Huh. That made a lot of sense actually. Clint tried to not let his facial expressions give away the inner turmoil that was going on in his mind. One touch and Bucky would know that Clint’s his soulmate. Clint was usually a pretty touchy-feely guy, being an assassin usually leaves you a bit touch starved. He had actively been trying to avoid skin-to-skin contact with Bucky. With the rising temperatures, it would be hard to avoid both Bucky seeing his marks and also accidentally brushing skin together.

“You got your shopping list?” Clint asked as they rumbled into the supermarket parking lot, eager for a distraction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm inappropriately proud of myself for the idea of making laura an AI 
> 
> also idk why i keep putting chopped references in fics i just think its funny


	3. Chapter 3

In the end it’s a light, accidental touch that activates their marks. Bucky touches Clint’s bicep lightly as he’s reaching around him one day in the kitchen as not to startle him without his aids in. Of course, he was startled anyway at the sudden overwhelming emotions and warmth spreading through him. He hears the vibration of Bucky’s voice behind him but puts a finger up to stop him from going on.

“Still can’t hear you. Lemme get my ears.” Clint says, still not looking at the other man as he padded up the stairs to get his aids.

He sat on his bed for a moment, looking at the two tattoos on his arm that were now interacting. The hawk was perched on the head of the wolf and the wolf was just sitting in the crook of his elbow. They both seemed to cock their heads in confusion as he delayed going back downstairs.

He finds Bucky sitting on the sofa with two cups of coffee and a neutral expression.

“Did you know?” Is all the former assassin says after Clint sits down on the chair.

“Not at first. Nat told me before you came, but…”   
  
“I knew.” Bucky says, meeting his eyes for the first time. “I’ve known for a while.”

“Well. What next?” Clint sipped his coffee. Not all soulmates were romantic but he wouldn’t be upset if Bucky wanted that. Not at all.

“I’m gay.”   
  
“Cool. I’m pan. Didn’t answer the question.”

“You’re what?” Bucky frowned.

“Stop deflecting.”

“I mean…” Bucky looked nervous. “If we’re both into fellas-”   
  
“You want this to be romantic?” Clint finished for him, also not believing that the heartthrob of the century wanted to be his boyfriend.

“I’ve had this thing on me for over a hundred years buddy. Men weren’t allowed to be anything  _ but _ platonic soulmates with each other when I was a kid.”

“Well. It’s your choice.” It was Clint’s turn to look nervously sheepish. “I’ve been attracted to you since the tutor in the circus cracked open the American history book.”

“Well what are you waiting for, get over here.”   
  


Their first kisses were tentative with too much tongue or not enough heat behind them. Eventually they fell into a rhythm and tangled into a mess of limbs onto the couch. They made out for several hours, exploring the other’s body and where to kiss to get a gasp or whine. After a particularly dirty tongue maneuver, Clint pulled back breathlessly. 

“Holy shit.” He panted. 

“You ok?” Bucky stroked the blonde hair gently, cupping his jaw as he stroked down his face. 

“Just. A lot.” Clint said, his face red with blush and eyes blown with arousal. “We don’t have to keep going.”   
  
“I know.” Bucky said. He moved his knees up to straddle Clint’s hips fully and ground his hips down a bit where they were both hard in their lounge pants. “I’m enjoying this.”

Clint just responded by kissing him deeply again, lifting his hips into the friction between them and burying a hand in Bucky’s hair. His other hand snaked up the front of his shirt to roll Bucky’s nipple under his thumb. Their lips parted and he tentatively played with the other, ripping a groan from Bucky’s lips and Clint felt himself get pulled even closer to Bucky. 

They tore each other’s shirts off, kissing and stroking and rubbing and tweaking at the expanse of skin and scars. Bucky ducked his head into Clint’s shoulder and sighed deeply as he pressed their bare torsos completely flush with each other. He could feel Clint’s rapid heartbeat and irregular breathing and strong hands around his waist and his eyes prickled with tears.

  
“I love you.” He whispered hoarsely into the scars on Clint’s collar bone. “I know this just started but-”   
  


“Shh-” Clint kissed him and touched their foreheads together. “I love you too. It’s ok. We’re soulmates,” 

Bucky nodded and swallowed down the soft sob in his throat. 

Clint just pulled him closer on top of him. “It’s ok. We found each other. That’s all that matters now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> make bucky cry 2019~!


End file.
